


36 questions to fall in love

by orphan_account



Series: A very Sterky Christmas! [16]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Boys Being Boys, Experiment, Falling In Love, Getting to Know Each Other, Honesty, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 03:43:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5442128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles and Derek both agree to meet a stranger and participate in an experiment supposed to make those two strangers fall in love with each other. They get paired up with each other and maybe the experiment turns out not to be as stupid as Stiles orignially thought it would be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> So I wanted this to be a short ficlet, maybe a 1000 words, but the story had a mind on its own...  
> Hope you like it! Happy 16th December!

”I really need you to do this for me, Stiles.” Lydia pleaded. Stiles was actually very surprised that Lydia went as far as pleading. That just showed Stiles how much this experiment meant to Lydia.

“I don’t know… I mean, I really don’t think that this is going to work.” Stiles admitted. He braced himself for Lydia’s rage - she loved doing her research and experiments and usually got annoyed with anyone who didn’t believe it would work. But instead of looking pissed, Lydia looked like she had just won the argument. 

“Then you wouldn’t mind spending a few hours on it, would you? I mean, if it won’t work, it won’t change your life in any way what so ever.” Lydia smirked and oh, Stiles had just lost that argument. He nodded, dejected. 

“Urgh, okay. Can I at least hear who my ‘partner’ will be in this experiment?” Stiles asked. Lydia smiled at him and shook her head. “No. That’ll defeat the purpose. You have to be complete strangers.” Then, she got up and walked away. “I’ll text you the info! You better be there on time.” She yelled.

A few minutes later, Stiles received a text from Lydia. All it said was #Room 467 in the physiology building tomorrow 9 AM#

***

The next day Stiles woke up at 8:47 AM. He rolled out of bed only to see that he had set his alarm clock for 8 PM and not 8 AM. 

Normally it took Stiles 10 minutes to get to the physiology building but if he ran - and fast - he would probably be able to make it in 5 minutes. Stiles hurried around, finding some clothes to wear - just his usual flannel and graphic t-shirt - and then he made a quick cup of coffee he put in a travel mug. He couldn’t function properly without coffee and that was a fact.

When he finished the coffee he saw that it was 8:54 and he had to get going. He put on a pair of sneakers and then he ran. He almost dropped his coffee a couple of times but in the end, he made it. He ran into the room right on time, 9 AM exactly. 

The first person he saw in the room was Lydia. She looked at him with an eyebrow raised and a little disapproving huff. “Woke up too late, I take it?” she asked. She looked a little amused. Stiles nodded.

“But I’m here and I’m not late, so no harm done.” He answered as he sat down beside her. She gave him an obvious once-over and snorted. “You could at least have worn a pair of pants without holes in them.” She teased. 

“Hey, you told me this experiment would only work if I was honest and a hundred percent me, right? This is totally me.” Stiles argued and Lydia chuckled a little, then nodded. “It sure is.”

“Anyway, you haven’t really told me that much about this. Care to enlighten me?” Stiles asked. He was very curious about what this was. All Lydia had told him was that he would get a partner and they should answer some questions and see if they fell in love with each other. To Stiles, that sounded really ridiculous.

“We are running this experiment on 3 randomly paired couples. You are paired with a person and you will be locked together in a room for as long as this lasts. There will be a screen in the room which will have a question. You will each switch on asking and answering the questions. You have to be one hundred percent honest or this will have no chance on working. When you have answered all the questions - there will be 36 of them - you will have to look into each other’s eyes for 4 minutes and then you have to do an interview with us after talking a little together without a ‘script’.” Lydia explained. Her tone switched from friendly and teasing to professional. 

Stiles nodded. “Sounds simple enough. When will it begin?” he asked and she grinned at him. “Well, not until 9:15. I told you to come at 9 because I was sure you’d be late.” Stiles couldn’t even be mad about that - he usually was late to everything. He turned his head to look at the clock over the door. 9:13.

“Well, we can just go to the room now.” She lead him into a room with two couches facing each other with a little table between them. On the table stood 2 glasses and a jug full of water. As Lydia had mentioned there was a computer with a white background and some black text on the table as well. The text said ‘couple 1’ and then the date. 

“you can just sit down and wait, your partner will come in soon.” Lydia walked out of the room and Stiles sat down on one of the couches. A few seconds after Lydia’s door slammed close, the door opened again. 

A beautiful and obviously very well trained guy walked in. He was wearing a dark green Henley and a pair of jeans that hugged his thighs and legs perfectly. His face was beautiful too. He had a strong jaw and a sharp jawline, with stubble on his cheeks and some eyebrows that were kind of big but in a good way. It complimented his face. Stiles’ eyes locked with the other man’s and Stiles noticed that his eyes, too, were beautiful. Stiles couldn’t really pinpoint their color but they seemed to be some kind of green. The man smiled as he came closer.

Basically, this man was the stuff his wet dreams were made of.

“Uh, hi. I’m Stiles.” Stiles introduced as the other man sat down on the other couch. Stiles’ hand lingered in the air between them, unsure of what to do. What was the protocol when you were supposed to fall in love with each other? Did you shake hands? Hug? Do nothing? Stiles honestly had no idea.

The other man saved Stiles from worrying too much, because he grabbed Stiles’ hand and shook it. “I’m Derek Hale.” The other man - Derek - said. Stiles smiled and let go of Derek’s warm hand.

“nice to meet you.” Stiles tried to be polite but he probably came across as really awkward. “You too.” Derek smiled. He took the jug of water and filled one of the glasses, then gestured to the other glass - Stiles’. “Want some?” he asked and Stiles nodded.

As Derek filled Stiles’ glass, Stiles clicked the computer screen. The first question appeared. 

“Should we just get started?” Stiles asked as his eyes skimmed the question. “I can start asking, if you want.” He added. Derek made an affirmative sound that Stiles took as a yes.

“Okay, here goes. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?” Stiles read out loud, then turned his attention to Derek. It would be fun to hear his answer. Stiles, personally, had no idea. There were so many to choose from.

“Well in this world or in every world?” Derek asked. Stiles shrugged. He had no idea. “Okay, well from a fictional universe, I think maybe someone like Sherlock Holmes.” Derek said and Stiles couldn’t stop himself from laughing a little bit. “Don’t laugh, I am perfectly serious! I really admire him, though he can be an asshole.” Derek admitted and Stiles could actually see the fun in having Sherlock Holmes as a dinner guest. It was just not the answer he had expected.

“Okay, fair enough. But if you had to choose one of the actors who played him, who would you choose?” Stiles asked. He was very curious to see how many versions of Sherlock Holmes Derek had watched. Derek seemed to think about it a little. “the Robert Downey Jr. version. I just love Downey Jr. so much as an actor and having one of the characters he played at a dinner party would be awesome, too. His face in my home.” Derek laughed and Stiles couldn’t help but think that maybe this would work. So far, Derek seemed awesome.

“Would you like to be famous? In what way?” Derek asked Stiles as the next question. 

“I would love to be a famous writer. I really want to write a book someday that’ll just blow peoples mind and get famous for that.” Stiles told him. He didn’t even have to think about that for any more than a second. That had been a dream of his for quite some time now.

“Ah okay. Have you written any books yet?” Derek asked. Stiles shook his head but elaborated, “well no, but I actually have this idea. I just need to get it down on paper.” Stiles admitted and Derek smiled. “I’d love to read it when you finish it.” He said and Stiles couldn’t help but smile too. He now had one extra guaranteed reader for his first book.

“Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?” Stiles asked. Derek shook his head. “I don’t. If I rehearse shit like that, I tend to say one word wrong and then ruin my whole flow and that’s just… not good.” Derek trailed off. Stiles could relate to that very much, thank you.

They went through the next couple of questions quickly (“What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?” - “ just being with my family and friends, getting to relax. Preferably some place hot.” And “When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?” - “I don’t really sing in front of people, but I sing in the shower. Yes, I know. I’m a walking, talking cliché.”)

Then they came to an interesting question. “If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?” It was Derek’s turn to ask Stiles and he thought about it for a couple of minutes before finally answering.

“To be honest, I think I would prefer neither. I mean, a 30-year old mind in a 90-year old body? That just doesn’t work for me. And a mind like a 90-year old but the body of a 30-year old? Just seems twisted to me.” Stiles answered. Derek nodded. “I agree.”

“Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?” Stiles asked. Derek shook his head. “I don’t, no, but I really hope that I die of old age, just sleeping and then never waking up. No pain.” Derek admitted.

“Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.” Derek read from the next question. Stiles grinned. “Well, first of all we both seem to like Sherlock Holmes and Robert Downey Jr. Wait, was that one or two?” Stiles asked. Derek held up one finger. “One it is, then. Okay, we’re both boys. Men, whatever.” Stiles listed. He had no idea what else to say. “And, uh, we’re both crazy enough to agree to participate in this experiment.” Stiles exclaimed. Derek chuckled. “I thought it could be fun.” 

“Okay, next one. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?” This time it was Derek’s turn to answer. “I don’t really think there could be just one thing. But if I have to choose, I feel grateful that I have my amazing family, even if they can be nosey and meddling at times.” Derek said. “How many siblings do you have? If you have any, that is.” Stiles asked. 

“Well, I have an older sister, Laura, and then a younger sister, Cora. Then I have Dylan and Tyler, they’re twins and also the youngest. They’re both 10.” Derek told him. Stiles’ heart ached a little. He had always wanted siblings, but he never got any - by blood, anyway. Scott counted as a brother in everything but blood. “I’m kind of an only child.” Stiles shared. Derek lifted one of his eyebrows - a move Stiles had already seen him do quite a lot. “I am an only child, but my best buddy Scott and I have known each other since we were in diapers. We grew up together and we are practically brothers.” Derek nodded like he understood.

“If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?” That wasn’t really that difficult for Stiles to answer, thought it still hurt to think about a little. “Well, I lost my mom at the age of 9. I mean, there wasn’t anything that could have been done or anything, she was sick, but I would have loved to have both my parents.” Stiles’ eyes got a little teary, which annoyed him a little. He was 23 years old and he still got tears in his eyes. He wanted to be able to talk about her without crying.

Derek moved on quickly, sensing Stiles change in mood. Stiles really appreciated that. 

‘Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.’ The screen said. “I suppose that means the both of us?” Stiles asked. Derek nodded. “I think so, yeah.”

And so they began. Derek told Stiles about how he was raised in a big family and how he always loved studying but at the same time he loved baseball and lacrosse. How, all through high school, he was known as the ‘nerd-jock’ and everyone respected him but thought it was weird. Derek told Stiles about how he fell in love with a girl named Paige but she died in an accident involving a rogue animal. Derek told Stiles about how he figured about that he was bisexual. Then the time was up and it was Stiles’ turn.

Stiles told him about his mother, how she had been, about how he had grown up with two languages instead of just one - Polish and English. He told Derek about his first meeting with Scott and their friendship. He told Derek about his Lydia phase, which was a little awkward considering Lydia could probably hear everything they said. Lydia knew though, and they had talked it through and they both knew there was nothing now, but it was still weird. Stiles skipped the part where his mother died - he didn’t want to cry. Instead he told Derek how he started getting interested in books and the worlds that they opened up. Stiles went a little over time - he got too caught up in his story - but Derek didn’t really seem to mind that.

“If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?” Stiles read. Then he backtracked. “Wait, whose turn is it? I’ve completely forgotten.” He admitted and Derek laughed a little. “me too. You can just answer this one and then we’ll take it from there.” Derek offered.

“Okay, well if I had to gain one ability, I would love to be able to read minds.” Stiles said. Derek got a teasing glint in his eyes. “Oh, like Edward Cullen you mean?” he joked and Stiles’ eyes widened. He leaned over the table to hit Derek’s shoulder lightly. “Oh no! You did not just make a twilight reference.” Stiles laughed. It took them some time to finish laughing but then again, it didn’t really matter. They had all the time they wanted.

They continued with the questions for a while. For each question they answered, the questions got deeper and more personal, but it didn’t seem awkward. Stiles felt comfortable sharing these things with Derek, which was really crazy considering they had only known each other for less than an hour and they didn’t even know each other’s last names. 

They talked a little about the questions and came to the agreement that to get to know each other more, they would both answer each question.

“If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?” They both agreed that they didn’t really want to know anything. Life was supposed to be an adventure and if you knew where it ended, it would take the fun out of it.

“Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?” Derek admitted that he really wanted to travel to Spain. He had learnt Spanish from a young age and he really wanted to try his abilities in the country itself. He hadn’t done it because he was studying and didn’t have time, plus he wanted to go with someone. Stiles couldn’t stop himself from thinking that maybe that someone could be him.

“What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?” Stiles had to think hard about that. “This seems weird, but I think my greatest accomplishment was getting over the death of my mother and moving on.” Stiles admitted. His eyes teared again and this time Derek grabbed Stiles’ hand and squeezed it for comfort. Derek told Stiles that he had no idea what his greatest accomplishment was.

“What do you value most in a friendship?” wasn’t a difficult question for either of them. They both said ‘honesty’ at the same time, causing them to look at each other in a funny way. They were still holding hands and Stiles started thinking that maybe this wasn’t so crazy after all. Maybe it would work.


	2. Chapter 2

When Derek had agreed to do this experiment, he had been very skeptical. He had no idea why his sister Cora had recommended him for Lydia, seeing as Derek was seriously bad at talking about his feelings and sharing stuff with other people - especially strangers. There was a reason why he only had 2 close friends, after all.

But somehow Cora convinced Derek to try. And when Derek first met the other man, Stiles, he discovered that it wasn’t that difficult, opening up to him.

Stiles listened to him and sometimes he came with small, funny comments. When Derek shared it was easy and when Stiles shared, he actually found it interesting. Stiles seemed like a really kind, funny and smart man and though Derek didn’t believe this experiment would work - after all, who could fall in love in a little over an hour? - Derek could see himself falling in love with Stiles in the future, if they kept contact after this thing. Derek really hoped they would.

Stiles was really attractive, too. Just Derek’s type. He was tall, just a few inches taller than Derek probably, and he had pale skin dotted with moles. His nose was very cute and his lips were pink and plump. Derek kind of wanted to kiss them. Derek also kind of wanted to lick across his pale skin and connect the moles with his tongue. But that wasn’t a thought for now.

Derek stopped his train of thoughts and looked at the white screen instead. The next question popped up. “What is your most treasured memory?” he read aloud. Stiles smiled a little private smile that had Derek smiling too. Stiles was probably recalling a happy memory.

Derek thought about it, too. When he heard the words ‘most treasured memory’ nothing specific came to mind. Instead of one big, happy memory, a bunch of moments flashed through his mind. His little sister, Cora, being born and him holding her for the first time. Derek playing with his two twin brothers. Seeing his mom opening one of his homemade gifts when he was a kid. His first kiss with Paige. When he got a scholarship to his college.

“I don’t know, I can’t really think of something specific.” Derek told Stiles after a while of silence where they were probably both thinking, trying to come up with an answer. “I know right?” Stiles exclaimed, like he had just waited for Derek to say that. Maybe he had. “When I heard the questions all I could think of was several smaller moments, not one big ‘most treasured’ memory. That’s a very difficult question.” Stiles rambled a little. Derek found it kind of adorable.

“Me too.” Derek said. Even though he found it easier to open up and talk around Stiles, he was still a man of few words. When he didn’t have something important to say, he preferred not to say anything or close to nothing.

They silently agreed to move on to the next question. The next question was really depressing, but luckily this time, only one memory popped up in Derek’s head.

“What is your most terrible memory?” Derek had a good feeling about what Stiles’ answer would be - his mom’s death. “You don’t… I think I have an idea about what your answer may be and you don’t have to say it out loud. I know.” Derek said. He had noticed how Stiles reacted when he talked about his mother and Derek knew the feeling very well. He knew how difficult it was to let go of stuff like that.

Stiles sent Derek a thankful smile. “My most terrible memory is when Paige died.” Derek said. He didn’t elaborate any further since he had already told Stiles that story during their 4 minutes of telling their life story to each other.

“Yeah, I. Yeah.” There was a bit of a tension in the air, but that was understandable seeing as they had just talked about two persons they loved dying. Derek understood why a question like this was in the experiment - after all, it was a big part of getting to know who the other person was - but it still kind of ruined the good mood they had going.

Stiles probably thought so too, because he leaned forward and clicked to the next question. 

“If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?” Stiles read. He seemed to have an immediate answer because he only stopped to take a breath before he began talking again.

“Okay so I think I would drop out of school and begin writing my book - the one I told you about?” Stiles said and yeah, that actually made sense. If Stiles only had one year to live in left, of course he should write his book.

Derek smiled. “Sounds like a great idea.” Derek told him and Stiles beamed at him. “thanks. What about you?” Stiles asked. If Derek was honest, he actually had no idea if he would change anything. He told Stiles as much.

“But… Isn’t there anything at all?” Stiles asked. Derek thought about it a little. “Maybe I would drop out of school, too. Just travel the world or something.” Derek said, though he wasn’t completely sure. It was weird to think about.

“What does friendship mean to you?” Derek read. Stiles smiled. 

“Well obviously friendship means a lot to me.” Stiles started. “you know that saying ‘blood is thicker than water’?” Stiles asked. Derek nodded. Of course he did. “Well, that’s not the whole saying. It’s not!” Stiles insisted at Derek unbelieving eyebrow. 

“The original saying is: ‘The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.’ And I agree with that one hundred percent!” Stiles sounded really invested in the subject and he had actually gotten Derek curious. “You know, ‘the blood of the covenant’ is the friends and family you choose. Like I choose to be friends with Scott and Lydia and Allison and every single one of my friends. I see the importance of family, I really do, and I love mine, but I still believe that we love each other and have a good relationship because we choose to have a great relationship.” Stiles tried to explain. 

“Being family and having a great relationship is not something that always goes hand in hand.” That Derek could nod along to. “I know. My uncle Peter and I don’t have the best relationship.” Derek added. Stiles looked at him with wide eyes and nodded. “Exactly! But we always have a good relationship with our friends because we chose them and they chose us. So friendship to me means almost everything.” Stiles concluded. Derek couldn’t really do anything but nod his agreement. Looking back at the rest of their meeting, he realized that he had done that a lot. Nod, that is.

“I think you’re right, actually.” Derek said and it seemed like Stiles sagged together a little. Almost like he relaxed. Maybe he had been even more invested in the subject than Derek had first thought, and maybe he had been preparing for an argument. 

“Super.” Stiles smiled. “What roles do love and affection play in your life?” the next question was kind of like the previous one. This time Derek took the lead.

“A big one, actually. I haven’t dated much since Paige and she was my first love and girlfriend, so I haven’t had that much ‘love and affections’ in my love life, but with my family and friends I always like when you can casually touch each other and just show each other that you’re here in something other than words.” Derek tried to explain. He probably didn’t succeed, seeing as Stiles looked a little confused.

“I don’t know if that made any sense…” Derek added. Stiles’ eyes widened a bit and he leaned forward, towards Derek. “No, no. It made perfect sense!” he assured him. “The only thing that didn’t make sense is you not having had that many relationships.” Stiles continued. He gave Derek an obvious once-over and then winked. “I mean, look at you. You must have people falling at your feet every time you walk out the door.” Stiles teased. Derek could feel his ears an cheeks turn a little red, and he just thanked the Gods that he had stubble to cover it up. Stiles, of course, noticed anyway.

“Oh My God, are you blushing? Is that… Do you blush with your ears? Is that a thing?” he sounded delighted and like this was one of the best things ever. That just made Derek turn even redder. If it continued like this, he would end up looking like a tomato.

Derek didn’t really know what to answer, so he settled on going to the next question while Stiles was still laughing his ass off.

“Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five items.” 

“Is that a total of five each or like, a total of five all in all? Like, I say three and you say 2 or what?” Stiles asked. Derek shook his head. “I don’t know. Let’s just do five each.” Derek said. That would be easier.

“Okay, I’ll start. First of all, you have a seriously symmetrical face and it is very nice to look at.” Stiles said. It was one of the weirdest compliments Derek had ever received - and he had received a lot of weird ones over the years. 

“Uh, thanks?” Derek said. He never really knew how to react to compliments. Stiles just grinned. “you’re very welcome. Second of all, you have amazing eyes. Like, what color even are those?” Stiles asked. “My passport says green.” Derek told him and Stiles looked intently at his eyes. They got eye contact and it wasn’t as weird as it probably could have been with anyone other than Stiles. Stiles just knew how to make things not-awkward. 

“Huh. Okay. Thirdly, you have the body of a Greek God, like seriously.” Stiles said.

“Well, not completely like a Greek God.” Derek said. He just couldn’t help himself. Stiles took a few seconds to get it, but when he did his cheeks flushed and he stammered a little. “I uh, yeah okay. Okay.” Then he looked like he got himself out of his little shock-state. “You can’t just say stuff like that!” He complained with a teasing tone.

“Anyway, as the fourth thing I’d like to say that you seem like you really care about the people you surround yourself with and you seem really genuine.” Stiles said. Derek had not expected a compliment like that but he really appreciated it.

“And lastly, I would totally fuck you. That’s a good thing.” Stiles winked. Derek supposed he kind of deserved that one. He was the one who started with the sexual innuendos, after all.

“My turn, then. One, I love that you are sarcastic. Two, you seem really smart, which I really like.” Derek stopped listing things. Should he turn up his flirting a little or should he keep it on the down-low so they could get to know each other without just having sex on their mind.

“Three, you have some really long hands that I would really like to feel all over my body. Four, your lips look perfect and I would actually really like to kiss them sometime. And five, I am really glad that I were partnered up with you because somehow, you make it easier to share.” Derek admitted. Stiles smiled at him. “Yeah, I’m happy I got partnered with you, too.” He smiled. Again they linked hands over the table, this time just because they wanted to feel each other and not because they had to comfort each other.

“How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people’s?”

“I feel like we kind of already answered this?” Stiles said. Derek nodded. They had kind of answered that when Derek told Stiles about his family and his sisters and brothers. Stiles, too, had told Derek about his almost-kind-of-brother Scott, his dead mom and his father, who was a Sheriff.

Derek clicked to the next question and when he read it ‘How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?’ he immediately clicked to the next question again. “I don’t think we have to answer that.” Derek said. “I, uh, appreciate that.” Stiles answered and squeezed Derek’s hand. 

“Make three true ‘we’ statements each. For instance, ‘We are both in this room feeling ...’” was the next question. Stiles got a teasing glint in his eyes and Derek just knew that something inappropriate would come up.

“horny.” Stiles said and yep, would you look at that. Derek was right. It kind of amazed him how well he already thought he knew Stiles by now, after only knowing him for a little under an hour. Derek still couldn’t keep himself from laughing a little.

“Seriously though, I think we both feel heard. You know what I mean? It’s not normal to share this much and have someone listening this intently and caring so much about what this other person says. It’s a nice feeling.” Stiles explained and once again, Derek agreed. “You are so much better at wording things than me.” Derek chuckled. 

“Your turn.” Stiles smiled. 

“Okay, I think we both feel like we have known each other for longer than we actually have. I feel like I’ve known you forever.” Derek admitted and Stiles beamed at him. “me too.”

“I can’t really think of anything else, except I feel like we can both see that maybe this experiment isn’t as stupid as I first thought? I don’t know about you, but I had no faith that this would work.” Derek shook his head, because no, he hadn’t thought it would work either.

“Not that I am in love with you or anything, I still think that’s crazy. Falling in love in an hour. But I think that this could be the beginning of something. It’s a good foundation is all.” And Derek couldn’t agree more. He had been skeptical, sure, and he didn’t believe that love could happen this quickly, but Stiles was right. It was a good start.

“Complete this sentence: ‘I wish I had someone with whom I could share ... ‘” - “everything.” Derek answered. It was as simple as that. He wanted someone with whom he could share all the little moments, the moments where you were barely awake or the moments where you were sick and looking like you were dying. He wanted someone who would always be there for him.

“Yeah, me too. I know what you mean.” Stiles said. There was a few moments of silence until they went on to the next question.

“If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know.”

“Well, as you may have already noticed, I ramble a lot.” Stiles laughed, “and so I think that its very important for you to know that if we were to become close friends. Consider this your warning, you know the one on different toys and things? Like ‘not safe for kids under 3 years old’? Yeah, mine just says ‘rambles a lot and is good at going off on tangents.’ Oh hey, would you look at that. I did it again. I rest my case.” They both laughed. Normally, Derek would probably be really annoyed that someone talked that much in just one sentence, but when Stiles did it, it was kind of adorable.

“okay, well I am controlled by my sisters. Seriously, anything they want me to do, I somehow end up doing it. I have no idea how or why, but they’re really manipulative. Actually, Cora got me to join this experiment, so there you go.” Derek told Stiles. 

“Oh my God, that is so precious. I can just picture it. Two tiny women telling a big, buff guy to do something. Oh my God, it would be even more perfect if they threatened you to do it.” Stiles laughed. At Derek’s silence to that, he stopped laughing and looked over at him. Realization dawned on his face. “This, shit, they do don’t they? I must meet them! They sound awesome.” Stiles threw his head back and laughed. Derek really liked the sound of his laugh.

Once Stiles got over this new piece of information and Derek got over the humiliation, they moved on to the next question.

“Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time, saying things that you might not say to someone you’ve just met.” - “Again, I feel like we’ve already done this?” Stiles asked. “yeah, we have.” Derek affirmed. “Should we just ignore the question?” he asked. Stiles didn’t answer but he leaned forward and clicked to the next question.

“Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.”

Stiles immediately turned red. “Oh, that looks promising. Want to go first?” Derek teased him. Stiles let out a big sigh but began his story.

“You have no idea how many embarrassing stories I have, but let’s go with one of the really awkward ones, shall we? My dad is the Sheriff in my hometown, as I’ve told you, and before I moved here, I had a girlfriend, Malia. Sometimes it was kind of hard to find a moment to you know, sex it up, so we decided to go in my Jeep to a place in the preserve where no one went. We got it on and then, right as we were coming, my dad knocked on the window. Apparently he was on patrol in the area and uh, that was. Yeah, you can imagine how awkward that was.” Stiles trailed off awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck.

“I haven’t tried anything quite like that, but there was that one time where I was captain of my high school lacrosse team. We had these white uniforms and there was a very important game that night. I was supposed to be the star and all. Only when I got there, I found out that my sisters had colored all my clothes pink. I had to play the game in fucking pink clothes! We ended up winning but I was humiliated.” Derek told him. Stiles almost choked on his water, laughing.

“Fuck that’s genius. Do you have a picture? I bet you’d look good in pink.” Stiles winked at him. 

A scratching in the speakers in the room interrupted they conversation. “You have been in there for an hour and a half. If you could move on, that would be great. It wasn’t supposed to take more than an hour.” Lydia’s voice told them.

Stiles’ eyes widened. “Wait, has it been that long? I feel like we’ve only been here for maybe an hour, at most!” Stiles yelled. “Yes, it’s been that long. Now move on.” Lydia said. Derek chuckled a little. That women reminded him a lot of his sisters - which was probably why she was such good friends with Cora.

“When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?” 

“I don’t cry in front of other persons, if I’m being honest, and I try not to cry in general. I just feel too vulnerable.” Derek admitted quietly. “I try not to, either, but sometimes I cry when I get a panic attack. Last time I cried was the day before one of my exams when I didn’t feel prepared.” Stiles shared. 

Derek read the next question and moved clicked to the one after that one. ‘Tell your partner something that you like about them already.’ Was the previous one and they had already had a question like that 3 times before or something.

“What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?”

“I feel like it depends on the moment. I mean, sometimes you just need to joke to lighten the mood, if you know what I mean?” Stiles asked. “yeah, I do.” Derek told him.

“If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?” Wow, the questions just got deeper and deeper, didn’t they?

“I don’t think I have anything.” Derek said and he really didn’t. He wasn’t a person who shared much, but when something was important, he was man enough to say it as it was.

“I would regret not telling my dad how awesome he has been. I mean, after I lost my mom I only had him and he did really well. I think that maybe he is too hard on himself, that he thinks he could have done more, but he did great. I haven’t told him because I feel like it would be weird to just say stuff like that.” Stiles got some tears in his eyes once again.

“I think that you should tell him. I don’t think he would think it was weird. I think he would appreciate it.” Derek advised him. “yeah, you’re probably right.” Stiles said.

“Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?” Stiles was quick to answer - “my computer! I have all these ideas for books and they’re all on there. ”

“I think I would save my computer, too. I mean, I’ve had it for so many years and a big part of my life is on there - pictures, videos and all.” Derek agreed. 

“Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?”

“Obviously my father, since he is the only family I have left. We’re all each other have, in some sort of way, and to lose him would be… I’m not sure I would handle it that well.” Stiles concluded. 

“I understand.” Derek told him. “I think it’s really hard to choose. I’m really close to everyone in my family and the thought of losing just one of them makes me feel really bad.” Derek said. “I can’t just choose one.”

“Okay, last one. Drumroll, please?” Stiles said. Derek started tapping his fingers on the table, faster and faster while rolling his tongue so it made a dramatic sound.

“Share a personal problem and ask your partner’s advice on how he or she might handle it.”

“A problem?” Stiles asked. “I can go first.” Derek offered. “I can’t say no to my sisters, not in the long haul anyway. It’s not that big of a problem but being able to say no every once in a while could be nice. Any advice?” Derek asked. It wasn’t the biggest of problems, but they were a pain in the ass sometimes and he just didn’t understand why on earth he could bring himself to say no and just walk away without getting roped into something.

“Now I don’t know your sisters, but a simple idea would be just to talk to them? I don’t know. I suck at giving advice.” Stiles laughed a little awkwardly but Derek really couldn’t blame him. This was an awkward and a little weird question to end with.

“Should we just move on to looking into each other’s eyes for 4 minutes?” Derek asked, giving himself and Stiles an out. Stiles nodded, maybe a little too quickly.

A countdown appeared on the screen beside them and the both leaned forward so there wasn’t that much space between them.

Stiles’ eyes were beautiful. They had this warm, hazel whiskey color and they just looked so inviting. At the same time, they had a glint of mischief in them. They didn’t say anything for the first 2 minutes and it wasn’t as awkward or weird as Derek had expected it to be. Really, this whole experience had been nice instead of weird and bad like Derek had thought it would be.

After the first two minutes had passed, Stiles started tripping with his feet and his fingers, tapping a rhythm into the table. Through their meeting, Derek had noticed that Stiles had some trouble sitting still for too long and that proved to be kind of a problem here. Derek tried to ignore the tapping and it worked.

Once the two minutes were up, Stiles stood up and stretched his legs. “What now?” he asked. “Do you have any sudden impulse to get on your knees and propose?” he teased. Derek rolled his eyes at him. 

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Derek started. “But I would like to take you out on a date. See where this could go.” Derek said. Stiles sat down again. “I’d like that very much.” He admitted. 

Then Lydia opened the door and came waltzing in. “okay, now we need to get you in for two separate interviews.” Then she walked out again. They both followed.

First she took in Stiles. Derek sat out there watching. Stiles talked to her for about 5 minutes before it was Derek’s turn to do the interview.

When he got in, a camera was aimed at him. Lydia started asking questions about his first impression of Stiles, how he felt during the different questions, if it was difficult to share stuff with a complete stranger. Lastly, she asked if he thought he was in love with Stiles.

Derek shook his head. “No, I am not in love with Stiles. I don’t think I could ever fall in love in a little under 2 hours. But I think that maybe one day I could fall in love with Stiles. We’ve already planned a first date. Or second, if you count this as a date. I don’t know, but this is definitely a great foundation for a relationship.” Derek said, quoting Stiles from earlier. Lydia looked very pleased with his answers, even though they hadn’t fallen in love.

When Derek walked out from the interview, Stiles was waiting for him. 

“I was thinking that maybe we could grab a cup of coffee or something? If aren’t sick of me already, that is.” Stiles offered. Derek took the offer and they had their first - second? - date in a little coffee shop two blocks away from the physiology building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends this little story :)  
> I may write an epilogue some time, but not right now. I had a lot of fun writing this, but it wasnt easy, either, to come up with all those answers ;)  
> I really hoped you liked it!  
> Comments are very much appriecieated.

**Author's Note:**

> I am thinking about writing next chapter(also, the last chapter) from Derek's point of view, but I dont know if I'll end up doing that.  
> Either way, I promise that I will update this story tomorrow so you can see where it ends and if the experiment works! :)  
> I'd really love some comments and thoughts on what you like and what you dont :)  
> This hasnt been proofread or betaed, but when I finish the story tomorrow I will look it over.


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